Janelle Monáe on the Media Coverage of Her Coming Out: ‘I’m Not in the Business of Clickbait’

This week, Janelle Monáe hosted a Reddit AMA and was asked about the media coverage surrounding her coming out as pansexual, specifically that Janelle Monáe cover story in Rolling Stone.

Last month,,Monáe came out in a cover story in Rolling Stone where she admitted to being “someone who has been in relationships with both men and women.” The article — titled “Janelle Monáe Frees Herself” — drew criticism from some who thought the title was patronizing.

One fan asked Monáe about this during that Reddit AMA. The fan asked, “What do you think of the rhetoric surrounding you coming out as pansexual? Phrases such as Rolling Stone’s headline ‘Janelle Monáe Frees Herself’ seems reductive to me, you’ve always been a free-ass motherfucker, whether public or private in regards to your sexuality.”

Monáe answered, “Yeah, that happens. I’m also free to let that slide off my back. Being an artist sometimes means allowing others to use your image to push an idea based off of something you say or create.”

“In this case, I think that there are a lot of people who may find courage in the story (at least I hope). And I’m not in the business of click bait and what makes people click on something. I’m just trying to be honest and hope that it resonates with the people it’s supposed to resonate with.”

She added, “The more FAM the better.”

Janelle Monae goes off on MAGA Kanye.

"I'm a free thinker and here's a free thought: If free thinking is rooted in the oppression of minorities, black people, the LGBTQIA people, of immigrants, of women…then I don't f**k with your free thoughts."pic.twitter.com/XcmG4KQOSp

In another recent interview, Monáe offered some insight as to why the phrase “free thought” isn’t a free pass to prop up hate, responding to Kanye West’s recent support of Donald Trump.

Monáe said:

I’m a free thinker, and here’s a free thought. I think that if free thinking is rooted in the oppression of minorities or black people or LGBTQIA people, of immigrants, of women, then I don’t fuck with your free thoughts. I just think that there has to be some balance. Slave masters also thought freely. And where did we get with that? So we really have to think about who we’re endorsing, we have to really think about what it means to freely think, if it’s at the expense of the oppressed.”

What do you think of that Janelle Monáe cover story? Sound off in the comments below and on Facebook.